Child's Birth Year
2022

State/Province/Territory
Connecticut

NICU Hospital for my journey
Maine Medical - Portland

My NICU Graduate's Journey
We are Kaya’s adoptive parents and I (mom) was in the room when she was born. She was not moving and stopped breathing on her own shortly after she was born. The doctors were concerned she had a brain injury and they needed to put her on the hypothermic cooling treatment within a few hours in order to stop further trauma. Luckily her birth parents gave us power of attorney within that timeframe so we made the decision quickly to do the treatment. She was on the treatment for 3 days then the doctors raised her body temperature back up. Within a day we saw an improvement and it was determined that Kaya did not have a brain injury! She was 5lbs 15oz at birth but dropped to 5lbs so she stayed in the NICU for a total of 10 days to learn to eat and grow. The same day she got out of the NICU the adoption went through! She is now our 1.5 year old and is doing amazing things!

What makes you proud of you NICU graduate?
Kaya is really smart and determined! She does have an eye issue, but that doesn’t stop her! She tries and tries until she gets the task done! Kaya is also a dancer already and loves music! The doctors used the words cerebral palsy and catatonic when she was born so we thought she had brain trauma and some hearing/vision loss but she doesn’t! She’s truly is a miracle!

Weight at Birth (lbs. or Grams)
5 lbs 15 oz

Weeks Gestation
36 Weeks

Time spent in the NICU (Specify Day, Month, or Year)
10 Days